Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well, that is a shame then," Gar rubbed his chin. "Expected, but still a shame. Now off to do some other thing." And then he left towards who-knows-where.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Well that matter seemed to be settled, Siv seemed happy enough to watch the egg and Veronika had no reason to object seeing as the egg was likely impervious to harm anyway. Shadrak's mention of the cathedral got her to thinking more about that excursion.

"Perhaps I will come along to investigate the information on the emblem that's gathered in the cathedral, given how this thing seems to so tied to what we're doing. I might need you to translate any magical jargon that comes up though," she said to Shadrak.

Nadya

Nadya grew tired of the dining hall eventually and made her way back towards the stables, curious as to what was taking Haythem so long and wishing to unburden herself of her apples.

Connor

Gar seemed to ask Anna something which she refused...Connor was curious as to what that was but decided not to pry. Instead he decided to investigate what this Annelise person said. "Next massacre? I'm afraid I don't remember hearing about any Fallen being massacred- Ursian history lessons tend to portray things as the other way around," he asked with a nervous smile.

[Ether]

"The massacre of the night... within the span of half a week, three-hundred thousand Kestrelii were slaughtered. If Valdimarr's policies are to come to fruition, we will be inviting ourselves to be struck down by another in due time." Annelise responded to the small human boy. It would seem that human society truly either chose to ignore or was totally blind to plight outside of their own for the most part... though it was nothing one could blame on these generations.

[Phoenix]

Field

<Alright ... so after that, we go and explore th-> <"Hey!"> Haythem shot up from the grass as Isis prodded him in the side of the head with her snout. With so much weight behind her head, it felt more like getting lightly kicked by someone. <"That's rude, you know ..."> After scolding the enormous wyvern, he began checking his surroundings from where he was sitting. Same as before, this part of the estate was deserted or at least appeared to be. They had the area mostly to themselves. <"... so, like it, here, or is all the grass, trees, smells, and humidity not really your thing?"> Isis immediately lied down and tried to sleep. Haythem wasn't sure if that was her answer or just her way of ignoring him. <"Mmgh.".

Hallway

"Okay, sure," Shadrak replied. He was a little surprised Veronika was going even though she explained herself. Maybe as second in command, she felt she needed to go if Raquel wasn't. It wasn't a very eventual trip heading back, but about halfway back to the dining room, Shadrak had a thought. "Wait a second. Eggs shouldn't be moved around a lot, right?"

"Not unless it's important," Siv quietly chimed in.

"Well this thing won't be hatching in the dining room, so maybe we should take it up to one of the guest rooms. I was thinking mine at first, but I'll only have this thing for today and if it hatches after it's someone else's turn, then that'll just be more unnecessary ... moving ...?" He sighed, realizing he'd overlooked something rather obvious. "The egg's about to hatch, right? So this turns thing hardly matters anymore. I'm sure this thing's fully developed already. I'll find a room and keep it with me for now. If it hatches before it's someone else's turn to take it, so be it."

"I don't want someone else to take it."

"B-ut ... that's what we've been doing from the start ..." Now what ...?

Garage

Weyland grimaced at Annelise's account. He'd heard that same story from Steinn. He never could see the sense in Valdimarr's plan, if only due to how quickly the nations would unite to face them and how easily vasili could end up getting involved, especially their least favorite one. There must have been more to this ... possibly even things Steinn wasn't aware of.

"This one might do," Anna said to herself, deciding to mark one of the listed transports. It had a tongue system she rather liked and would address one of the flaws with the Dauntless, the protection of the horses. Of course, aesthetically it would make the transport look like it was meant to charge down lines of gunmen. It couldn't be helped without some serious progress with rune magic within the next few days. She kept going down the list she was holding looking for other components to utilize.

"What is she doing?" Steinn asked. He normally wouldn't be curious, but he suspected it might have to do with the Dauntless, which was now thoroughly compromised from the looks of it. He also doubted they had anything strong enough to resist the damage the Dauntless suffered.

[Ether]

"Conjecture would dictate that she is most likely looking to either repair or replace that severely damaged vehicle, Lord Devlinos... it would also dictate that the most likely culprit to cause that type and extent of damage to be an aureola spell." Annelise replied, as Steinn inquired as to what Anna was doing... most likely he had come to a similar if not the same conclusion on his own, but there was no harm in chipping in.

[Toogee]

While Lumi was looking at gloves, Eli joined Aneda in the jacket section. While she was having some trouble deciding, Eli knew what he wanted the moment he saw it. The rider grabbed a light brown leather jacket with a feather down collar. It was rather perfect for riding: it wasn't too tight or too puffy to restrict movement. He would have preferred a different color, but function-wise, it was exactly what he was looking for.

"Ooh, you'll hurt someone pretty good with those," Eli commented on Lumi's glove choice. "And green's not a bad color, Aneda. Now, anyone see this in black?" He turned his back to the girls to show off his choice of jacket.

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"Yep. Everyone loves a little shimmer with their dancers," Jam replied to Erion and Alphy. That was when the swordmaster decided to pay for her shawl. She didn't mind; she would never refuse a gift. "Wow, thanks...but what do you mean you can't escort? Aren't you going to the ball too? We'll all go together!"

[scorri]

Lumi

"Hmm, haven't seen it. Do you really want to be wearing black all the time though? With your hair, and your pegasus, you'll just blend right in. You should stand out a bit more~ It's not like you're sneaking about or anything. Why not try a red or a green? Something brighter, you know?"

Erion

Raising an eyebrow at the girl's suggestion, Erion shrugged. "Well, it is usually a man and his date that go, not a group of three. However, if you would rather be escorted by Al, I would gladly back down for him. I would find someone else to go with if need be."

Eric

"I... but... Well... if you're sure you would rather take me than another noble, I suppose I could ask Master Weyland if I could borrow some suitable clothes... I... Yes, I will go to the ball with you." Eric smiled hesitantly, before bowing to Miri. "I am honored that you would ask one such as myself."

[Toogee]

"Yeah, maybe," Eli replied, begrudgingly taking the jacket off and putting it back down. "Maybe white, so I can blend in a bit with the sky." He picked a white wool jacket, one with a belt to help fasten it around himself. He tried it on and looked at himself in a nearby mirror.

"This better not be a woman's jacket..."

It was.

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"That's not what I meant, Erion," Jam replied, a little annoyed that he thought of her as so petty as to dump the thief without warning. "I mean, if Alphy brought a date along, we could all go together. Come on Alphy, is there anyone in that big house that caught your eye? I can help you ask them out if you need to. Like a matchmaker!" Jam was beginning to get excited at pairing off Alphonse with a lucky lady. She was beginning to run down names in her head...

Edited September 11, 2013 by Toogee

[ReformBlade]

"D'aaaw, I think it looks fine on you!" Aneda said with a nudge at the kid, staring at him in the mirror, standing by him and nodding with that approving grin that just screams of sarcasm. "Though I don't think white's your color. Maybe a red, or a yellow, anything bright!"

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Nadya found Luca in the stables and he seemed to have behaved himself reasonably well so she fed him an apple as a treat. After doing this she decided to take Luca for a walk, where she eventually saw a very large wyvern in a field. Must be Haythem... she thought to herself, approaching the creature for a chat.

"I'm not sure they keep the kitchens open all day...although Weyland's pretty rich so maybe they do," she started as she drew closer, leading Luca along.

Connor

The Fallen probably did something to deserve that, Connor thought to himself before answering Steinn's question. "She's custom designing a new vehicle for Raquel's group to use- the old one had a bit of structural damage. Do your people use transportation vehicles like this?" he asked the prince.

[Phoenix]

The Great Outdoors

"O-Oh, Nadya! Hi there," Haythem reflexively greeted. He decided to get up off of the grass and have a proper conversation face to face. "I don't want to intrude. I'm sure I can find something to eat while shopping. If they put me in front of a buffet right now, I can't be held responsible for what happens," he jokingly and embarrassingly warned.

Workshop

"Not like these," Steinn answered. "The sky makes for a better road for us. Commoners mostly tend to travel on foot or wing. That's not to say that we don't make use of vehicles, but they tend to be little more than carriages mounted to the backs of large flying beasts. Traveling on the ground in metropolitan areas is simply impossible inside something like that," he explained, pointing casually to the Dauntless toward the end.

Decision

Shadrak finally reached a decision. He was going to first see where his room would be, and then have Siv look after the egg for him until he got back from his trip to the Grand Cathedral. Other matters could wait until later. He was about to ask a maid to show him to his room so he could drop the egg off, when he realized that Siv was technically one herself. He was sheepish about asking at first but once he had, she took the lead and brought him right to where he wanted to go. It wasn't that surprising when he thought about it, but she was quite familiar with this place, more so than he felt he would ever be.

Once they arrived at the room, Siv took the egg, used the blanket to make a cute little nest like incline for it, placed it carefully within it and then curled up next to it once she took off her shoes. After Shadrak got familiar with the room, he turned to leave. "Thanks again, Siv. I'll be back in a little bit. Then maybe you can tell me more about how kestrelii handle kids."

"Tell the others to bring food for me. I'm still hungry," Siv said ... that was some goodbye.

"Heh, Okay, sure." As soon as Shadrak closed the door behind him, he froze. Siv's ... Siv's in my bed. Whoa ...

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"I don't think Weyland's gonna starve anytime soon, no matter how much ya eat," Nadya replied to Haythem, wondering how he could pass up free food. "People talked about comin' with us, but I can't remember what anyone decided. Your pal Malik was a wet blanket about the whole thing," she pointed out.

Connor

"We did manage to get the Dauntless through the streets of Europa and Ursentius but it took some doing," he replied. "What kind of large flying beasts pull these carriages- wyverns?" he guessed. He couldn't really imagine a wyvern pulling a carriage into the air, but a pegasus pulling it would be even more ridiculous.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

After vanishing for a appropriate length of time to talk with someone to put his own evil plans into place, Gar reappeared walking down some random hall with a lotta doors. "Man that's a lot of doors," Gar commented as he picked one to knock on hoping that out of all the doors it would probably be Raquel's. This couldn't possibly go wrong!

[Phoenix]

Field

"People wanted to come with?" Haythem echoed. Oh noooo ... well on the other hand, she doesn't seem so sure they're actually coming. Now's my chance. "Well, I was hoping to get it done sooner rather than later, so maybe we should just head into town now. You've already got Luca with you, so ..." Now to gauge her reaction, he thought.

Workshop

"The kigenese call them 'demons'. Those that we use for transportation are much larger than wyverns, however. The carriages are mounted right on their backs rather than towed," Steinn explained.

"Well that's ... interesting. If only we had creatures so capable," Weyland half seriously chimed in.

"It's more of a statement. They aren't really necessary," Steinn noted.

Guest Wing

"Are you looking for someone?" asked a maid who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. There was no answer at the door Gar knocked on, either.

Meanwhile, rather close by, in Raquel's room, she was lying on the bed, trying to get back to sleep but failing. She had the pants from earlier along with those that actually were her size and the long sleeved shirt all at the end of her bed. She kept the bulky pants around simply because if she got another surprise visit, she could slip into them in half a second. The other outfit was for after she woke up, assuming she ever got back to sleeping.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"No, I just felt like knocking on doors at random," Gar answered with absolute truth. "Though now that you mention it, is there anyone actually near here?"

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Eh sure why not? They were lookin' for somethin' a little more entertainin' I think and food shoppin' ain't most people's idea of a good time. Good thing I ain't most people," she said to Haythem with a wink.

Connor

Oh demons...Fallen make those with organic arcana right? Lots of potential practical applications...but not a popular pursuit here in Ursium, he thought to himself, remembering how the group and the Ursian military hunted down Doctor Dolan. "I didn't realize the Fallen used demons for anything other than warfare," he decided to respond to Steinn.

[Phoenix]

Field

"Right you are," Haythem cheerfully replied. His spirits were high now, and even a simple shopping trip would be a real blast for him at this point. "Let's get going. Just a second here. I should get the gold I'm going to need to buy the food." He began digging through Isis' saddle bags while she lay there. <I wonder if there's any chance we'll run into a potential buyer for that statue of hers ... doubtful; we'll be in the markets. Still, if opportunity knocks, I'll be sure to remind her to answer the door.> A moment later, he had what he thought to be enough money for food, but he really didn't know what the going rates were in this region.

Workshop

"Hmhm, well we aren't always fighting. We can let them waste away or put them to use, though I suppose things are far more standardized now. There do tend to be a lot of demons designed for nothing but battle, and those designed for nothing but domestic duties," Steinn explained.

"Would hate to see cows as shock troops on the battlefield," Anna chimed in jokingly, though she sounded entirely serious since she was distracted by the components list she was putting together.

Guest Wing

"Only a few guests have settled in thus far," the maid answered. "The ones near the stairs should be occupied for the most part, though I have seen at least one claim his room and then leave. That's normal, but it means there are probably only a few, if any, people present in this wing right now."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well they're probably the people I need to see," Gar noted. "Are any of them Raquel?"

[Phoenix]

Guest Wing

"Raquel? Hmm ... oh, right, she should beeeee ..." The maid started walking while holding up a finger. She seemed to be tracking down Raquel's room from memory, but she wasn't the same maid that brought Raquel there to begin with, so it was likely she'd been informed by some other maid or seen Raquel emerge at some point. Next, she stopped by Raquel's room and pointed at the door. "Right here."

Inside that same room, Raquel was staring up at the ceiling, almost unable to drift off. What's going to happen tonight? We're not going to get into another battle, are we? I don't think we can handle one in a place like that.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Yessss, this certainly feels like the door to a room Raquel is in," Gar randomly started dragging his finger around the door. He started tapping before turning it into a full-on knock.

[Phoenix]

Guest Wing

Raquel winced as she recognized the knocking at the door. "It's just as well ... I can't seem to get to sleep," she muttered to herself.

If you'd like, I could always sing you a lullaby.

"No thanks," Raquel said before quickly putting on the pants from earlier, securing them, and then answering the door. "Gar ...?" Don't tell me someone else is about to leave ... I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Sweet, it is the right door," Gar answered for no apparent reason. "Didn't mean to wake you if you were napping. If you're awake, well spiffy. Either way, I'm here to inform you I've taken care of a good chunk of the ball preparations. You're pretty much the last relevant person I need to talk to."

[Phoenix]

Guest Room

The maid took her leave for the moment, and Raquel said, "I'm not sleeping." ... and believe me, I tried ... She was surprised to hear that Gar was taking care of something like this, but quickly figured he probably enjoyed it or something. Everybody has something ... "Sooo ... what did you need to talk with me about, exactly?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well, mostly I've been working on seeing who's gonna go, who they're going with, and who's gonna stay behind. As the leading lady, you really should go with someone so it'll be more difficult to separate you from the rest of us. Your current available options consist of sword-guy, some other guy and me. Veronika--who's not going by the way--wants sword-guy to play escort with you. But this is your choice so yeah." Gar shrugged after explaining things.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Script

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Domestic duties? So the demons do cooking and cleaning and such?" he inquired further. From what people said, the demons are more like malformed animals than anything else...